The 2017 track season began in earnest this weekend. Here's everything you might've missed. We also had on-site coverage from three events.

​UW Indoor Preview: ​Results | Races and interviews | Photos​
​VA Showcase​: Results | Races and interviews | Photos​
​Nittany Lion Challenge: ​Results | Races and interviews

1. Three records go down

Two high school national records went down at the VA Showcase and one collegiate record fell in Nebraska. Kate Murphy and the Lake Braddock (Virginia) girls broke the old DMR national record by 0.31 seconds, running 11:34.54. Murphy anchored the 1600m leg in 4:38. 



Later on Friday night in Lynchburg, Florida sophomore Tyrese Cooper ran his first national record to go with his slew of class records. He covered 300 meters in 33.03, breaking Michael Cherry's old standard by 0.02 seconds.



On the collegiate level, Oklahoma State's Kaela Edwards ran 2:40.79 to break the year-old CR by 0.03 seconds. It's the fourth straight season that Edwards has had a banner performance indoors, as she was third at indoor NCAAs in the 800m as a freshman, second in the 800m as a sophomore, and won the mile last winter.

2. Three more nearly fall

Two athletes nearly broke their own collegiate records, and other one nearly broke his second record of the weekend. Mississippi's Raven Saunders threw the shot put 19.10m (62-8), less than six inches shy of her own indoor CR and the No. 5 collegiate indoor throw ever. According to TFRRS, it was Saunders's first meet since finishing fifth at the Olympic Games.

19.10m/62ft 8in season opener 5inches of my indoor CR. More to come #tracknation #throwernation #shotput #hulksmash #hulk pic.twitter.com/PUmsXON32x

— Raven HULK Saunders (@GiveMe1Shot) January 14, 2017

Oregon's Raevyn Rogers ran 1:26.97 for 600 meters on the 300-meter track at Washington--just shy of her own 1:26.34 collegiate best. It's the No. 5 college performance ever.



And Cooper nearly grabbed his second high school record of the weekend less than a day after the first. He ran 61.88 for 500 meters, making him the No. 2 prep ever in the event.

3. Kate Grace is a stud and a free agent now

Does any American woman have more range than Kate Grace right now? Grace made the Olympic 800m final in August, mixed it up at the Silicon Valley 5K in November, and on Saturday outkicked Sifan Hassan to run 8:47 for 3K. She missed the American top ten all-time list in the event by less than a tenth of a second. Conley's NorCal Distance teammate Kim Conley rabbited the race, and teammates Brie Felnagle and Leah O'Connor set new PRs.



Grace is running well at the right time. She told FloTrack after the race that her sponsorship contract was up January 1, and that she's negotiating a new deal.

4. Lenny Korir just wins

Just a week after outkicking Callum Hawkins for a surprise cross country win in Edinburgh, Korir pulled off a victory almost exactly the same way in Houston. In the 8K in Edinburgh, Hawkins opened up a small lead over Korir before Korir came back for the win. In the half marathon on Sunday, Olympic silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa made the first move, but Korir made the last one, winning in 61:14. Watch the wild finish here:

What a finish to the men's half marathon! @houstonmarathon pic.twitter.com/Uzi1AgDVzV

— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) January 15, 2017

5. Solid weekend for the Oregon Project

Matt Centrowitz and Eric Jenkins had serviceable mid-distance season openers, winning the 3K (Centro), mile, and 1K (Jenkins) at the UW Indoor Preview. But the group's star of the weekend was Jordan Hasay. The 25-year-old Hasay has been struggling to find her niche as a professional since leaving Oregon, and she may have found it in Houston on Sunday. On a brutally humid morning, Hasay ran 68:40--the second fastest American debut ever. She's now the No. 6 American ever on a record-legal course in the event.

Hasay said after the race that "I was really confident.  I think this is going to be my distance" and that she thinks she could have gone even faster.

​Complete Houston results

6. Stud sprinters return

Before getting injured at NCAAs last year, Oregon's Hannah Cunliffe was the best sprinter in the NCAA. With Jarrion Lawson gone, 2016 NCAA outdoor 100m and 200m runner-up Christian Coleman of Tennessee is the top returning collegiate sprinter. And Akeem Bloomfield became the first Jamaican high schooler ever to break 45 seconds when he ran 44.93 in March 2015.

All three showed up in a big way this weekend. Cunliffe (7.19) and Coleman (6.54) set new NCAA leaders in the 60 meters; both times would have been in the three fastest regular-season times last year. And Bloomfield, in his first race in an Auburn uniform, ran 46.68 for a new NCAA 400m leader.

7. Mid-d action heats up

If you're an American fan of the 800 meters, 2016 was a spectacular year with Donavan Brazier's collegiate record and Clayton Murphy's Olympic medal. The young guys a level or two below that kicked off 2017 with a few promising performances:

-UTEP freshmen Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni ran 1:46 and 1:47 at Vanderbilt.
-Joe White of Georgetown beat Penn State's NCAA fourth-placer Isaiah Harris in the 1K and hit him with the classic "SHHHHHH" at the finish line. Watch the race here. 
-High schooler Brandon McGorty ran 1:50.85. That mark makes him the No. 13 high schooler ever indoors, and No. 10 on a 200 meter track.